Talented point guard Kayla Davis is heading to Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The student at St. Marguerite d’Youville has confirmed she will be going there on a basketball scholarship after she graduates from high school in the spring.
Besides her skill on the basketball court, where she is a Three-Star recruit and ranked the No. 38 player at her position by ESPNHOOPGURLZ, Davis is also an excellent student who has maintained an average of more than 80 per cent during her years in high school.
While she has plenty of talent she has put in a lot of work to reach the level where she is one of the top young players in Canada.
“At school, coach Zoff (Carlo Zoffranieri) who is a great coach, has us go for an hour and a half Monday to Friday and he has us work hard. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there are two hour practices with the Brampton Warriors,” she said.
“I don’t consider it a chore. I want to get better,” she said of the time she spends on the court.
She is good enough that last summer she earned a spot on the Canadian cadet (under-17) team which won a bronze medal at the world championship in Amsterdam, the first time Canada had won a medal at that level. Another Brampton resident Shay Colley also played on that team.
For Davis that was a tremendous experience, although she has played on the Ontario provincial team it was her first opportunity to play internationally.
“We got a chance to play against the U.S. We were able to play the best of the best,” she said.
Canada qualified for the Final Four by defeating the host Netherlands by one point. The Canadians lost to the United States in the semifinals but rebounded the next day to defeat Japan for the bronze. Davis and Colley and some of their teammates were recently honoured by the Toronto Raptors at centre court prior to an NBA game at the Air Canada Centre.
The 5-foot-7 Davis also played with A-Game basketball, a Toronto AAU team and it was with that team that she was spotted by one of the coaches from Xavier while playing at a tournament in Kentucky. While she had offers from other schools she only made one official visit, that to Xavier, and committed to that school.
The university has a good academic reputation, the Xavier women’s basketball team, the Musketeers is also on the rise under the direction of Amy Waugh, a former point guard at the school who is in her second year as head coach. Davis is thrilled to get the chance to play for Waugh and feels she can learn from her. Of the six recruits signed by Waugh for next season so far, Davis is the only point guard.
“I want to improve my three-point shooting, increase my range,” said Davis. Waugh would seem to have the credentials to teach those skills. As a senior at Xavier in 2003 she was the leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 and an Honourable Mention All American and notably won the women’s three-point shooting contest at the NCAA men’s Final Four and then defeated the male champion to win the overall title.
In announcing the signing of Davis, Waugh said “Kayla is the consummate point guard. Offensively, she runs her team, sees the floor, and is excellent attacking off the dribble. She is an exceptional on ball defender with a very high basketball IQ.”
Just before Christmas, Davis was among 16 players invited by Basketball Canada to a training camp in Toronto for the Canadian under-19 team which has qualified for the World Championships in Lithuania in July. There will be three more training camps before the final roster is announced.